Saturday, January 14, 2006

On Wednesday night, I undertook my first night dive. The wildest thing underwater then is the bioluminescence - everywhere there is vigorous movement, little greens "sparks" are flying out. There was three of us going under, but we were accompanied by a contingent of Swedish guys and British/Irish girls.

The upper photo was taken when we had arrived back on Koh Tao and the other photo was taken post-dive on the upper deck of the LV Diving boat. The girls have since departed, though the Swedes will be here for weeks to come. I'm off again this morning and heading back to Bangkok to do lots of shopping and to try and take in a bit more of the capital. I'll see all of you Aussies in a week. As well, congratulations to Duncan and Jib who are recently (two days ago) engaged. Many happy returns!

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Well guys, as the title implies, I have been over here in Thailand for one week now. The first couple of days I spent in the capital city, Bangkok. It was great to meet up with Duncan and Jib and I saw a fair slice of the city by walking around and then taking a long boat tour through the rivers and canals. You see, Bangkok used to be called the "Venice of the East".

The roads and traffic over here are just like what you have probably heard. It is chaos. The asphyxiation atmosphere in Bangkok, the result of a massive volume of traffic, means that no Thais choose to smoke - it would be just impossible. Duncan and I visited a snake farm on the long-boat tour and I was lucky to have him there to help me along with finding cheap, decent places to eat. However, Dunc's selection of accommodation for me left something to be desired... I will talk about the "Green Room" more when I have my photos developed!

We (Dunc, Jib and I) spent a couple of days at a resort island called Koh Samui, down in the sea of Thailand. It was there that we tried our hand at riding motorbikes. Really, that was thrilling - just to get back in one piece was a genuine relief! On our tour of the island, we visited the rainforest up in the mountains. There we saw elephants and monkeys. There was quite a tropical storm there to drench us, but we still managed to make it up high enough for a refreshing swim under the waterfalls.

Duncan accompanied me over to a nearby island, Koh Tao. We were diving an hour after we had alighted from the ferry. The Duncsta has since returned to Bangkok, but I have stayed and obtained my Advanced Diving card and taken part in some beach partying (with drinking whiskey, etc. From small buckets!) with Swedes and Britons. Funnily enough, it looks like I'm the only Aussie on the island.

Where to from here? It's pretty nice here so maybe I'll stay here for a couple more days. However, the ocean on the other side (the Andaman coast) has been highly recommended for diving so maybe I'll head over there for a few days. However, I don't want to miss out on the weekend shopping in Bangkok (seeing as I'm returning to Oz on Friday the 20th), so maybe I'll have to head there instead and then see what happens.

I'm trying to remember to take lots of photos! See you all soon, Aussies - I'll really appreciate VB, meat pies, chips and gravy, and dry weather when I get back!

Hooroo!

Because I have my film camera with me, posting of photographs will be delayed until the end of the month.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

A swimming pool in a ute!What a New Year's Eve in Canberra when the temperature was soaring to 38 degrees C!Kevsta, Jenny, Rufus, Mixmeister, and I enjoyed the pool and showed it off so well that we had more company as the night grew longer.

About Me

I am a chemist from central west NSW who recently finished study at the ANU in Canberra. I have taken up a position as a postdoc now at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. I endorse individuality, rationality, capitalism and liberty and "Arrested Development". I oppose religiosity, the modern environmental movement, communism and statism and "Two-and-a-half Men".